Slenderman
by Optronix Prime
Summary: When Prime informs the twins they will be joining a small group to investigate unknown energon spikes deep in a forest, none of them (except Sides and Sunny) believed that Slenderman actually lurked there. Now, after losing one of their own and gain a page, they fight against the odds to find the other pages and return home; though not all shall be seeing their home again.


"Prime, please, PLEASE don't make us go on the mission! PLEASE! We'll do ANYTHING if you don't make us!" Sideswipe and Sunstreaker trembled in fear before their leader as they begged for what they wanted. There was no way they were going!

"Yes," Prime said as he rose from the chair behind his desk. "You are going, so you better get comfortable with the idea. You will be leaving in a groon with the others. Dismissed." Prime waved them away as he strode from his perfectly tidy office.

"No! No, no, no, no, no! There is no way in Pit I'm going there!" Sunstreaker shouted. "I'm too pretty to die yet!" Sideswipe glared at him for the comment but otherwise said nothing. "We have to do something!"

"But what?" Sideswipe asked his brother as he started to pace. "We can't go to Prowl because he assigned us on this stupid mission. We already tried Prime and Jazz and they wouldn't budge either. At least Jazz had some humor about it, but still. Simply put, we are going to die!" Sideswipe paced the length of the room twice over before Sunstreaker joined him. Each of them was terrified of what was to come in an hours' time.

"Wait!" Sideswipe announced suddenly, jarring his twin from his own horrible thoughts. "As long as we don't look at it, we won't die, right? As long as we keep moving, it can't get us."

"You're right!" Sunstreaker agreed as he stopped pacing. "Sides, you're a genius!"

"Thank you, I do try every now and then."

"Come on, let's go tell the others. They have to be warned if the dangers in store."

The twins walked briskly out of the tiny office into the weak October sunshine. A smooth chill rolled over their armor like icy kisses of a lover. Sideswipe noticeably shivered and cranked his internal temperature up several notches. Warmth flooded his sensors.

"Bluestreak!" Sunstreaker called as the duo crossed the dirt to where Skyfire rested, awaiting departure. Bluestreak turned around at the sound of his name and started walking over to them to meet them halfway.

"Bluestreak, we need to tell you something," Sideswipe said as they drew even. "We have something that we need to tell you and the others ASAP!" Sideswipe vented wildly at the mere thought of the "man" or whatever it was. It gave him the creeps and he knew Sunstreaker felt the same way about It; though the prideful front-liner would never admit to such a thing.

Bluestreak, Blaster, Mirage, Hound, First Aid, and Red Alert gathered around the wild-eyed Lamborghini twins.

"What is going on?" asked Mirage. "You two are shakier than the time you decided to go street racing and ended up in that toxic waste dump." Ignoring the comment, Sideswipe plowed on.

"We have to inform you of the dangers that lie ahead on this mission. You have to follow what we say, or you will die!" Sideswipe told his newly collected audience. His servos quaked as he tried to start their story. Sunstreaker tapped his ped loudly on the concrete after the third time Sideswipe had tried to explain the situation.

"Just let me do it!" Sunstreaker snarled moodily. "The more time you waste stuttering all over yourself, the more time It has to plan to get us!"

That statement shut Sideswipe right up.

"Okay, here's how this is going to work. We all stay together, each with one of Red's camera in hand, NEVER looking back over our shoulder. EVER! If the camera starts to static over, turn in a different direction than the one you are in and run! Otherwise It will get you."

"Hold on, hold on," Hound interjected. "You two must have faulty wiring. Nothing is in that forest other than trees, rocks and a few old buildings. Nothing is going to get us." Sunstreaker glared at Hound.

"Wait a minute!" Bluestreak shouted mildly, almost blowing Blaster's audio receptor.

"Keep it down Blue, it's not like I need that audio or anything," Blaster warned easily.

"Sorry," Bluestreak added timidly. "What I was going to ask is, are you? I mean-ah, are you talking about..." Bluestreak vented harshly, his optics glowing brighter out of nerves, "Slender Man?" The twins nodded in perfect unison at the sound of the name. All Blue could do after the confirmation was whimper quietly in between Blaster and First Aid.

"Wait!" someone shouted again. This time it was Red Alert who had something to share. Everyone took a step back to give Red arm room encase he started talking animatedly with his servos.

"You want me to give each one of these 'Bots one of MY security cameras to promote a stunt you no doubt you have been planning for months, maybe years, for the perfect moment to strike. And you want to get it on film so you can publicly humiliate us for falling for your harebrained scheme!" Red Alert was on a roll. Each twin tried to stop his blue streak, but neither had the power of will to do it.

"I will make this very clear to you two walking hazard signs. If you so much as TOUCH my cameras or controls when we get there and set up base, I will radio Prime. He will make sure you hooligans are punished for destroying my equipment!" The whole time Red ranted his arms flew around messily like a freshly damaged kite. He had a nasty glint in his optics that clearly stated he meant business.

"Red Alert," Sunstreaker spoke up as he marched right up to him, getting all up in his grill. "If you don't do this Autobot lives will be at stake! You don't want take on your record, do you?" Sunstreaker's loosely worded threat hung in the air, undetected by all but Sideswipe. Sideswipe knew that if he said anything, they'd suspect they were being cheated by a couple infamous morons.

Red stuttered his optics. "Well no, of course I don't..." His voice trailed off with the wind that was slowly picking up.

Before Sideswipe could add to his sibling's mellow threat, yet another person stole the limelight. Skyfire's engines rumbled to life as he announced,

"All aboard!" Mirage and Hound climbed the steps together, deep in conversation. They snickered every few seconds as they glanced back at the twins. Red Alert, First Aid, and Blaster did the same; only Bluestreak stuck by the twins, right smack in the middle, slightly trembling as the entered Skyfire. They buckled down into the seating as Skyfire's rockets roared to life. The sound echoed from the rear right into their audios.

The flight was long and completely uneventful. The time passed slower than usual in Sideswipe's opinion. He was truly amazed he hadn't gone insane. It had taken all afternoon to for them to fly Germany. To the scariest forest in the world: The Black Forest.

Skyfire touched down in a small clearing, almost dead center with the heart of the forest. Eight Autobots unloaded the supplies and set up camp as night creped in. Once everything was unloaded from Skyfire, he took off with a hollow goodbye. It was obvious he didn't want to be in some dark forest.

"Set up," Red Alert ordered instantly.

It wasn't until nearly 2200 hours when Sideswipe could drop down onto the freezing cold ground next to his twin. Sunstreaker had only been helping for about a joor and he already had unknown objects in his gears and something splattered all the way up his left leg. Sideswipe guessed if this is what Sunny looked like now, only Primus knew what Hell they'd be put through in two deca-cycles.

Sideswipe cracked the joint in his shoulder back into place before lying down. The stars were barely visible and the moon nonexistent. The rustling of long forgotten leaves made their selves known. Sideswipe shivered. The cold seemed so foreign on his sensors. He was ready to settle in for the night. Until dirt lodged itself in Sideswipe's mouth.

"Ick!" Sideswipe spat the filthy substance from his mouth and purged at the feet of a golden figure.

"Disgusting!" Sunstreaker shrieked. Heads rolled to face the purging red front liner and the sick covered golden warrior. Mirage and Hound burst out laughing as First Aid raced over to Sideswipe, helping him sit up. Blaster clapped Sunstreaker roughly on the back as he chuckled lightly and he steered him away from his brother.

"That slag headed glitchmouse!" Sunstreaker seethed. "I'll kill him!"

"Unless Slender Man kills you first," Blaster joked. Sunstreaker's joints locked up. His optics brightened in horror. How the Pit had he forgotten? Sunstreaker pushed away Blaster's helpful hand and raced back to where they had set up camp. Sitting around the dim fire light was only Bluestreak, doorwings twitching madly. He fiddled with his digits and kept looking all around. He was muttering to himself, vibrating slightly.

"Bluestreak?" Sunstreaker ran forward, Blaster got on his dirt caked heels. "Bluestreak!" Sunstreaker grabbed Blue's shoulders and shook hard.

"What's wrong with him?" Blaster asked.

"It's here," murmured Bluestreak, still twitching. "It's here."

"Who?" Blaster inquired. "And where are the others?" But Sunstreaker was frozen. He knew who "It" was and what possibly had happened to the others.

"Bluestreak," Sunny said as calmly as he programming permitted. "Did you glimpse Slender Man?" In a tiny voice, Bluestreak answered.

"Yes, he, It, was right there! Yes, It was right there! THERE!" Bluestreak's digit trembled so badly it almost jabbed Sunstreaker's wrist joint. "Right where Sideswipe and First Aid went."

"Where's Red Alert?" Sunstreaker asked quietly. Fear had never gripped at him so badly. He could be losing his brother because of one idiotic mistake! The little group could be terminated within minutes all because they didn't believe him and Sideswipe. Well Bluestreak believed them and he was still alive because he did. Mirage, Red Alert, and Hound couldn't be so lucky.

"Red's in the tent," Bluestreak whispered. Blaster dashed over to the entrance of the small command base. Blaster came out a moment later with Red Alert in tow.

"Where'd Aid and Sideswipe go?" Sunstreaker demanded the moment Red appeared.

"First Aid went to check Sideswipe out over there for some privacy," Red Alert informed them. "Why are you dragging me out of important work for something that you could have easily figured out on your own?!" Red Alert's horns fritz.

Just then the trees ruffled and Bluestreak screamed.

Blaster, Sunstreaker, and Red Alert locked on to Blue's scream and rushed over to him. His servos covered his eyes and his helm was bent low to the ground. The trio pulled Bluestreak to the entrance of the tent. He looked like he was going to cry.

"Blue, what happened?" Blaster asked as he helped him stand straighter.

"I saw, I saw," he gibbered. They were about to interrogate Bluestreak when a flock of bushes flew through the air. Dirt took flight along with pebbles clinging for dear life against battered roots.

"I am fine Aid!" a confident voice announced.

"You are fine when I tell you, you are," another voice spat back. "And stop kicking up dirt!"

"Sideswipe!" roared Sunstreaker. "You afthole!"

The silhouettes of the ruby prankster and his befriended medic were made clear as the dust settled in the gloomy air. Each Cybertronian stepped into the waning moonlight. The light danced playful along their armor as the trees swayed in tune with the wind. The medic moved, so did his dance partner. He back-handed the warrior; this partner glimmered brightly as she faded away. It was obvious she was embarrassed, for was gone in a matter of moments. Sideswipe's frame was pushed into darkness.

"Who screamed?" First Aid asked as he stepped into the glow of the fire.

"Bluestreak," Red Alert informed the newbies.

"Where's Hound and Mirage?" Blaster prompted.

"They're out scouting," was Red Alert's reply. Sunstreaker trekked over to his fellow front liner and smacked him upside the helm. Sideswipe grunted and was about to lash out at his dirt speckled twin when a scream rang out long and clear. The six Autobots froze, their joints locking into place. No one moved. No one dared to move.

"What do you think that scream was?" First Aid broke the sticky silence that had glossed over them like molasses in July.

Bluestreak's doorwings fluttered as the smell of fried energon wafted through the midnight colored air. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe eyed the other as the smell grew stronger. Several trees could be heard cracking down the center, limbs being ripped from their homes. The scrapping of gravel on metal echoed to the stars. The trees behind Bluestreak snapped and were shoved aside for decomposition. When a luminescent creature stumbled forward towards Blue, he shrieked a bit and pulled his gun out from subspace, taking aim at the invader all in one swift movement.

"Who-who are you?" Bluestreak's words trembled just as much as he did. The monster's reply was a long, mournful sob.

"Mirage?" First Aid asked. When the alien didn't respond, First Aid rushed over. "Mirage, what's happen? Why are you covered in charred energon? Where's Hound?" The cluster of Autobots homed in on the lanky blue and white spy. He was battered, paint chipped and scratched. His venting system was making far too much noise.

"He's gone into shock," First Aid stated as he pulled out a scanner and ran it over him. "He won't be able to tell us anything until I can regulate his pulse and calm his venting. His core temperature is soaring along with this uncontrollable shaking." First Aid's digits ghosted over Mirage's armor, testing for any signs of pain. If Mirage felt the light touches, he didn't make them known.

First Aid tended to Mirage. He had stopped shaking after an hour of sketchy silence. The others couldn't tell if they wanted to talk or not. They hovered somewhere in between. Every now and again First Aid would bark at one of them to come over and assist him with something. Other than that, all forms of communication was held in whispers of all ranges.

It took most of the night before Mirage spoke anything. No one was able to recharge because of the gloom that clouded their vision and glued itself to their sparks.

Sideswipe had come to assume the worse; Sunstreaker too. Mirage had gone to look around the area they were accommodating. Neither of them had believed him and his twin. And because of that, Hound was probably dead, (M.I.A. at the very least). But by whom? had been Red Alert's question. The twins knew; that's why they were leaning on a tree about twenty feet from the fire, arms linked like they were afraid the other would slip into the darkened woods never to return.

"S-s-s," a voice hissed. Everyone turned towards Mirage.

"Mirage," First Aid asked instantly, "what is it?"

"S-s-Side-s-swipe," he muttered.

"Yes?" Sideswipe croaked, hurrying over to Mirage's side.

"You-you were...right."

"About what?" It wasn't very often Sideswipe got to be right. He loved being right. But he prayed to Primus so hard that this time he was wrong.

"S-sl-Slender...Man." Everyone went quiet. The trees bristled and towered over them. Bluestreak whimpered just as the wind howled like a pack of wolves at the full moon. Bluestreak wormed his way towards Sunstreaker and hugged him tight as his body trembled. Shock coursed through First Aid as he looked between the new couple and his newly acquired patient. Blaster was able to keep his cool, but he was clearly shaken by the turn of events. Red Alert was completely unaffected by the news.

"I'm sure you only had a panic attack," Red stated. "They are very common."

"Yeah, if your name starts with "re" and ends in "d alert." Sunstreaker snickered as Red Alert turned to full out glare at the egotist mech.

"You are really becoming a pain in the aft," Red said evenly.

"You are just realizing this?" Sunstreaker's scornful question didn't even faze Red Alert. He turned his back on the war ravaged mech to the silently bleeding scout. Sideswipe sat beside Mirage, servos locked. The mesh of digits trembled. Coolant was slowly pooling in the corners of Mirage's optics. Mirage sniffled.

"I don't believe panic attacks kill best friends," Mirage said quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Red Alert snapped.

"I know what I saw," Mirage stated as evenly as he could. "Hound and I were just scouting around when we came to this dead, scary looking tree. We went around it and saw this paper with the word "No" written over and over along each side of the paper with a mannish looking person in the center. I took the paper and subspaced it. The next thing I know is Hound turns and screams "Slender!" before he can move. I took off, not looking back assuming, assuming-" It seemed Mirage could not go on. His vocalizer had failed him.

"Hound was following," Sideswipe finished hollowly. Mirage nodded wordlessly. His optics were glazed over from the coolant that was streaming down his face.

"Why would he attack?" Bluestreak asked softly.

"I'm not sure," Sideswipe replied.

"Wait!" Sunstreaker's faceplates lit up as he snapped his digits. "Mirage, do you still have the paper you and Hound found?" Mirage nodded again. "Can I see it?" Mirage removed the piece of trash that had cost his best friend's life from subspace. He handed it over.

"Sides," started Sunny, "We're living the game." Sideswipe's optics blanched. Bluestreak twitched violently.

"What the frag is that supposed to mean?!" Red Alert ordered. Sunstreaker stepped up to the plate, ready to hit a home run. Shoulders squared, denta gritted, Sunstreaker romped right up to the head of security; Sunny was, as the humans liked to say, 'all up in his grill'. The Autobots found that statement amusing seeing as ninety percent of them were vehicles of some form.

"You listen here Sir You're-All-Out-To-Get-Me. There is a new fraggin' threat attempting to offline you! It will kill you and steal your job. It will run its tentacles all over your precious cameras. It will make sure you will never see Inferno again! It will kill Inferno! So get your schizophrenic aft in gear and start doing something useful!"

Red Alert's facial expression was completely blank. No sign of any present emotion could be detected. His optics stared off into the trees about a foot to the left of Sunstreaker's helm. Sunstreaker glared at the supposedly lifeless mech that was about a foot and a half in front of him.

"We'll?!" growled Sunstreaker. No reaction. "Red Alert!" Sunstreaker waved a servo in Red's face. "Hello!" Sunstreaker had had enough. He pulled back his servo, lined in up with his target, and let it fly. Sideswipe, Blaster, Bluestreak, First Aid, and Mirage gasped as Sunstreaker bitch-slapped Red Alert. Red Alert came to life the second the moment ended. His optics brightened, blinding the furious front liner.

"You did NOT just slap him," Sideswipe suddenly spoke. "He's going to panic and glitch!"

"At this point, I don't give a damn about what happens to that schizophrenic moron," Sunstreaker huffed. He crossed his arms over his chassis. Bluestreak looked ready to faint.

"Red Alert!" First Aid cried. He hurried over to the red and white bot. "So help me Primus, if you damaged his processor in any way, I will give you to Slender Man myself!" First Aid tended to Red Alert as Blaster tried to comfort Bluestreak and Mirage. Blaster, for the most part, failed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sideswipe called to his twin. Sunstreaker had gone into the command tent and come back out with one of Red's cameras in hand. His usual scowl glimmered on his face as he pulled a length of rope from subspace and began tying the camera to his left wrist.

"I'm leaving. I told Optimus there was no way in Hell I was staying."

"Wait," Bluestreak piped in. "You're just going to leave us here, alone, with-with that?!" Bluestreak screeched as he pointed at a blank-looking Red Alert.

"Yup. Asta la vista." He turned to leave the clearing.

"Yer not going anywhere," Blaster spoke up. "We're all here for the same reason, all here to get a duty done. We started this mission together and were gonna finish this mission together. Do I make myself clear?"

"Holy slag," Sideswipe commented unnecessarily. "You've been hanging out with Jazz and Prowl way too much." Blaster shot him a look. Sideswipe retreated.

"I'm not staying if "finish together" means "die together"," Sunstreaker interjected. "If that's what you're getting at, count me out.

"You forgot someone," Sideswipe added.

"Who? 'Cause it's certainly not you."

"Your paint!" Everyone but Sunstreaker cracked a smile for that one. Even First Aid grinned slightly as he re-wired Red Alert's processor. Red Alert sadly showed no emotion for the outburst.

"Fine," Sunstreaker grumbled. "Just hurry your happy afts up."

Several minutes later First Aid had Red back online and functioning. Each Autobot got a camera from Red and tied it to the wrist of their non-dominate servo.

"Alright," Sideswipe began, bringing out a holographic map of the area. "I believe we are here," he said as he pointed to a spot on the map in between the Start and the Scary Tree. "We have one out of the eight pages, we need to get the other seven.

"Or give him twenty dollars," Bluestreak squeaked. Blaster smiled.

"Good job for keeping your head up, Blue." Bluestreak grinned bashfully.

"Troops!" Sunstreaker shouted, "Get yer happy afts hitched into high gear because we're goin' off roading!" Everyone fell in behind Sunstreaker as he began to lead the group. Their peds made soft thumps on the ground with every step they took. The only noises they wanted to hear was the sound of their slightly uneven venting and their peds packing dirt. As they walked in pairs up the path (with Sunstreaker leading alone) sounds drifted into audios. Sounds no one wanted to hear. Calls of birds twittered every few seconds. Bushes and trees ran along paint jobs, creating the occasional nails-on-the-chalkboard effect. Some sort of beast roared in the distance causing Bluestreak's doorwings to shift down suddenly. The right wing came down hard on Mirage's shoulder.

"Ouch! Watch where you twitch those," Mirage growled. Bluestreak turned to face him.

"I'm sorry, Mirage. I'm just so scared. Aren't you scared? You must be scared. I know I am. Do you really think Slender just wants twenty dollars? Do any of us even have twenty dollars? What if he doesn't want twenty dollars? What if he really wants to kill us?! What if we all die here and we never see home again. I'll never see Prowl or Smokey again, or Jazz, or Bumblebee, or Ratchet, or-" This time it was Sunstreaker who turned around. He reached his servo over Bluestreak's shoulder and clamped his hand down over Bluestreak's constant chattered.

"Bluestreak," Sunstreaker growled into Bluestreak's audio receptor. "If you don't shut the frag up, I will tie you to a tree with the page and LEAVE YOU FOR SLENDER MAN!" Sunstreaker couldn't see it, but Bluestreak's optics blanched out as fear replaced the blue hue. Bluestreak began to muffle frantically.

"Then shut up!" Bluestreak stopped talking. "Thank fragging Primus!" Bluestreak kept his optics down and vocal component off.

After several silent tense minutes, the seven nature splattered Autobots reached they the old worn down silo.

"Sides, you go around on left, I'll go right," Sunstreaker ordered. Sideswipe nodded once and complied. Sideswipe went around the silo slowly, camera held out far in front of him; his other arm was groping the tarnished brick. His servo slid into something slimy. He paused, shook it off, and continued on his simi-blind path.

"I got it!" Sideswipe cheered. He snatched up the small paper. Without even glancing at what it said, subspaced it. "The nearest place is to the right, the large rocks."

"Let's get crackin'!" Blaster lead the group back to the path.

"To the right," First Aid added in.

The group wondered in tight clump as they trekked deeper into the forest. Breaking twigs and heated vents created the terrified atmosphere in a matter of seconds. Bluestreak's doorwings did everything but stay still. Blaster rested a servo on Blue's shoulder for comfort.

The air grew colder as night gulped up the moon and stars. Each Autobot was forced to turn their headlights on in order to see simi-properly. Sideswipe was holding in every joke he could possibly crack to lessen the tension, but he managed to hold the slacking grip on himself.

"What's that?! What is THAT?!" Red Alert instantly freaked and pulled his gun from subspace.

"Red," Sunstreaker stated coldly. "You're preparing to blast a brick wall."

"Oh..."

"IT'S THE X-EY BRICKS!" Sideswipe shouted. "Ah shit. This is where I always die; well here and the damn linoleum room."

"Isn't that a merry statement," First Aid pointed out humorlessly. "Well, at least if Slender rears his featureless face, we know who to shove towards him."

"Traitor," grumbled Sideswipe.

"TRAITOR?! WHAT TRAITOR?!" Red Alert whipped around, optics threatening to pop right out of their sockets. His gun was aimed in the middle of First Aid's forehead. "YOU ARE WORKING FOR THE DECEPTICONS! YOU BETRAYED OUR TRUST AND THEREFORE MUST BE EXECUTED!"

"Nice going genius. You've set him off." Mirage elbowed Sideswipe hard in the gut. His optics blazed. "You know he was on the verge already!"

"I'm sorry that our head of fraggin' security is a paranoid, schizophrenic, humorless moron. Why don't I just apologize? That will make everything better." Sarcasm dripped off Sideswipe's glossa like ice cream off it's cone in mid July. Mirage and Sideswipe sized the other up as they locked dragger bearing glares. Sideswipe aimed his murderous glare at Mirage's left audio. He was hoping to slice Mirage's nose off. He failed.

"Sideswipe, you're a glitchmouse," Sunstreaker pointed out.

"Oh thank you, brother. Your love is the only thing that keeps me going."

"PUT YOUR SERVOS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM! NOW!" Red Alert screamed, gun pressed up between First Aid's optics. Obviously First Aid complied without pause. He placed both of his servos atop his helm. "TURN AROUND!" Again, First Aid complied.

As Red Alert pushed his gun into First Aid's cranium, and as Sideswipe and Mirage threw imagery draggers at one another, Bluestreak had ditched the group to look for the page, taking Blaster with him for there was no way in the depths of the inferno was he, Bluestreak, wondering off on his own. This is also how Bluestreak ended up listening to classic rock at audio shattering level. How the others couldn't hear them was a complete mystery to the gray Datsun.

"So lemme get dis straight," Blaster interrupted whatever was playing to finally get some answers to this horrifying problematic problem that had decided to crash their week. "We're in the middle of a video game?"

"Yes."

"And we're looking for notebook pages?"

"Yes."

"And we're probably going to die."

"Yes."

At this Blaster furrowed his optical ridge. He decided to test a small theory he'd just formed.

"Bluestreak, are you listening to me?"

"Yes."

"Are we in England?"

"Yes."

"Did you frag Prowl last night?"

"Yes."

Blaster snickered at the robotic answer he was given. Bluestreak shook his helm and looked over at the red boom box.

"What's so funny?" Bluestreak inquired.

"Dude, I just asked you if you fragged Prowl last night and you said yes!" At this point Blaster was in hysterics. Coolant leaked down his gray face in thin, ribbon like tendrils.

"You're an afthole," Bluestreak grumbled as his core temperature rose several degrees from embarrassment. His cooling fans switching on rather loudly. "That isn't fair." Blaster stopped laughing.

"I'm not laughing at the question you stupidly answered, I'm laughing with you...more or less. I just wanted to see if you were listening," Blaster clarified. "You didn't frag him...right?" Bluestreak turned away. "No slagging way! Holy Primus! Bluestreak got Prowl in the berth?! We really are gonna die."

"Shut the frag up and help me find the paper."

"You don't seemed so terrified now," Blaster pointed out smugly. Bluestreak ignored him, doorwings straight off his back. Blaster grinned cheekily.

"Oh shit," muttered Bluestreak.

"What?"

"Found it." Just by those two words, Blaster knew what he meant. The quiver was back in Bluestreak's voice and the twitch had returned to his step. Bluestreak turned ever so slowly back towards Blaster, paper in hand.

"Just keep walkin', just keep walkin'." Together they retraced their steps, shoulders touching all the way.

"Where are the others?" Blaster finally murmured after going around the bricks four or five times.

"I know why they couldn't hear your music," Bluestreak realized suddenly. "It's because they were never here waiting for us." Blaster and Bluestreak took one look at each other, optics locking, then promptly ran for the hills.


End file.
